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Sierra Leone sprinter breaks national record in USA

Sierra Leonean-born sprinter, Hafsatu Kamara, over the weekend broke and set a new national record in the 200m and 100m at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.

In the 100m, the Sierra Leonean youngster broke Fatmata Bangura’s six years 11.87 seconds record by clocking 11.78 seconds. And in the 200m, she ran a time of 24.14 seconds, surpassing the 24.32 seconds record set by Eunice Barber back in 1996.

However, the Sierra Leone 2014 Commonwealth Games representative’s time will now have to be ratified by both the Sierra Leone Athletics Association (SLAA) and the world athletics federation, the IAAF, as a new national record for women.

Hafsatu currently trains at the World Athletics Training Center in Phoenix, Arizona on an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Solidarity scholarship which was awarded to SLAA for the country’s athletes to prepare for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

According to SLAA scribe, Sundufu Sowa, the news about Hafsatu’s performance was a pleasing one not only to them as an association, but also to sports fans in the country.

“Already her training is paying dividends, which means well for the country. We hope this will continue so that we will have a good showing at the Olympic Games next year in Brazil,” Sowa said.